• WHICH STUDY DESIGN IS APPROPRIATE FOR SONOTHROMBOLYSIS TRIALS? THE ULTRAS PILOT STUDY

    M. Del Sette 1, S. Ricci 2, E. Giorli 1, M. Cotroneo 3
    1 Neurology Unit – La Spezia, Italy,
    2 Stroke Unit – Città di Castello, Italy,
    3 Department of Neurology University of Messina – Messina, Italy

    Objective: sonothrombolysis (ST) can increase the penetration of circulating tPA into the thrombus, promote the breaking and cleaving of the fibrin polymers, and improve the binding affinity of tPA to fibrin. A recent Cochrane Review of all the randomized studies published on ST reported significantly more recanalizations and better clinical outcome, with no effect on mortality. The ultras study is a pilot study aiming at defining efficacy of ST in acute ischemic stroke.